The Legend of the Titanic
| country = Italy | runtime = 84 minutes | language = Italian | budget = | gross = }}The Legend of the Titanic ( , ) is a 1999 Italian animated film directed by Joe Dante and written by Linda Woolverton, Terry Rossio, David Henry Hwang and Roger Allers. The film is a very loose adaptation of the [[RMS Titanic|RMS Titanic]] sinking and featured several fantasy elements such as anthropomorphic animals. The Legend of the Titanic was followed by a 2004 sequel titled Tentacolino. Plot In modern-day New York City an old mouse named Conners tells his grandchildren the supposedly "true" story of [[RMS Titanic|RMS Titanic]]. In April 1912, Conners was a young sailor mouse on Titanic s maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. He is in charge of taking account for the mice who are making the trip. A young mouse from Brazil named Ronny who enjoys playing soccer befriends Conners and Conners falls in love with Ronny's sister Stella. Meanwhile, a rich aristocratic woman named Elizabeth and her family board the Titanic. Her father is a famous Duke and is very prominent in the whaling business. He and Elizabeth's stepmother have arranged for Elizabeth to marry Mr. Evarard Maltravers, a rich whaler. Unknown to the Duke, the marriage is actually a scheme concocted by his wife and Maltravers to gain worldwide whaling rights for themselves, and asserts that the marriage is what's best for his daughter. Elizabeth sees several gypsies dancing at the dock and happily watches them. A gypsy man named Don Juan is dancing with his dog Smiley. He notices Elizabeth and sends Smiley to see her. When Elizabeth takes off one of her gloves to pet Smiley, Smiley snatches it and takes it back to Juan. Juan looks at Elizabeth and the two instantly fall in love. The Titanic then sets off to sea from Southampton on her first, and only, voyage. Conners and Ronny learn all about what's going on with Elizabeth by their observations during their trips throughout the ship's ventilation system. They are appalled by the way Elizabeth is being treated badly and decide to help her. When Elizabeth goes to the bow of the ship that night, some dolphins talk to her due to some magic moonbeams catching her tears. The dolphins jump very high out of the water and seem to levitate. They tell her of Maltravers's evil scheme. Maltravers's manservant Geoffreys spies on Elizabeth's activities and uses a special whistle at the stern of the ship to call the criminal shark named Mr. Ice and use him for causing destruction. Conners and Ronny introduce themselves to Elizabeth and offer to help her. Listening to their advice, Elizabeth tells her father she doesn't want to marry Maltravers. He listens to his daughter and tells her that he will never force her to do something she doesn't want to do. Meanwhile, Smiley tries to look for Elizabeth to cheer up Juan. After he unsuccessfully tries to find her in the ship's ballroom, he meets Conners and Ronny, who agree to help arrange a meeting and dance for Elizabeth and Juan. The meeting goes according to schedule and Elizabeth and Juan dance together before sharing their first kiss and first conversation. Elizabeth tells her father that she wants to marry Juan, and he agrees, but Elizabeth's stepmother is furious. Following an argument with Elizabeth, she storms off in anger. Elizabeth's stepmother and Maltravers decide to resort to drastic measures, as it is clear that Elizabeth will not marry him. They decide to sink the Titanic using the help of Mr. Ice and his gang of criminal sharks. Maltravers prepares to send news to his whaling ships by telegraph, and the mice decide to chew apart the wires to stop it from being sent. Ice and his gang of sharks decide to let an iceberg sink the Titanic. They fool an octopus named Tentacles into heaving an iceberg to the surface of the ocean by concealing the plan in the form of a bet to see who can throw ice the farthest. Onboard the Titanic, the Duke is forced to sign the whaling concession at gunpoint, after which Maltravers and his entourage flee the ship in a lifeboat. The crew of the Titanic then see the iceberg and attempt to avoid it, but the Titanic hits the berg despite their efforts. The ship quickly begins to sink. The mice realize that because they have cut the telegraph wires, the ship can't send out a distress signal. They enlist the help of another mouse friend of theirs, named Camembert, to help repair the wires. They are unable to do so, so Camembert has them tie up the ends of the cut wire to his moustache. They do so, but Camembert is electrocuted as the SOS is signalled out. Elizabeth and Juan manage to save her father, who is still tied up in a chair by Maltravers, and manage to put him on a lifeboat. Suddenly, several whales and dolphins arrive to help with the rescue. Elizabeth, Juan, Conners, Ronny, and Smiley jump off the now-perpendicular stern and jump into the water, and they are saved by a whale as well. Once everyone on the ship has been saved, the Titanic finally sinks, taking Tentacles with it and seemingly killing him, as he was still heroically holding it together. In the morning, the passengers are taken aboard the RMS Carpathia. Conners mournfully remembers the heroes of the disaster; Camembert and Tentacles. The Carpathia arrives in New York and disembarks the passengers. Elizabeth and Juan are married, as are Conners and Stella. It is revealed that Tentacles and Camembert have both survived and are well. Everyone is elated and celebrates at the Brooklyn Bridge, congratulating Tentacles for saving everyone in the disaster. The film ends with old Conners and Stella back in modern-day New York and Conners telling his grandchildren that whales are still hunted. Stella says: "Your grandfather loves to tell stories, but like all sailors, you shouldn't take him too seriously." Cast *Christopher Eccleston – Maltravers *Brendan Fraser – Don Juan *Jennifer Love Hewitt – Elizabeth Camden *Patricia Arquette - Ronnie *Emilio Estevez - Top Connors *Joan Plowright – Rachel *Leonard Nimoy – Captain Edward J. Smith *Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje - Mr. Ice *Bill Paxton - Camembert *William Shatner – Geoffreys *Lance Henriksen - Narrator *Jim Cummings - Duke of Camden *Mary Kay Bergman, Kath Soucie and Corey Burton as Dolphins *Robert Bergen - Smiley *Robert Clotworthy – Bob *Mary Kay Bergman - Tentacles *Mae Whitman - Stella *Frank Welker - Special Vocal Effects *Additional Voices: Jack Angel, Michael Bird, Aria Curzon, Jennifer Darling, Patti Deutsch, Paul Eiding, Bill Farmer, Charles Howerton, Ollie Johnston, Maurice LaMarche, Sherry Lynn, Mickie McGowan, Ryan O'Donohue, Phil Proctor, Jan Rabson, Peter Renaday, Kevin Michael Richardson, Andre Sogliuzzo, Frank Thomas, Brian Tochi, Audrey Wasilewski, Wally Wingert Sequel See also *''Titanic: The Legend Goes On, another animated film about the Titanic *[[List of films about the RMS Titanic|List of films about the RMS ''Titanic]] References External links * * Category:1999 films Category:1999 animated films Category:Italian animated films Category:Italian films Category:Films about RMS Titanic Category:Film scores by Jerry Goldsmith Category:Films produced by Dino De Laurentiis Category:Films produced by Martha De Laurentiis Category:Films produced by Don Hahn Category:The Kerner Entertainment Company films Category:Warner Bros. Animation animated films Category:Warner Bros. animated films Category:Films with screenplays by Linda Woolverton Category:Films with screenplays by Terry Rossio Category:Films with screenplays by David Henry Hwang Category:Films with screenplays by Roger Allers Category:Musicals by Jerry Goldsmith and Paul Williams Category:Films directed by Joe Dante Category:Films produced by Kathleen Kennedy Category:Films produced by Frank Marshall Category:Films produced by Sam Mercer Category:Films produced by David Kirschner Category:Warner Bros. Family Entertainment films